Norman cousins
Norman Cousins (born June 24, 1915 in Union City , New Jersey , † November 30, 1990 in Los Angeles ) was a prominent political editor , science journalist , author and peace activist .
Life
As a journalist, he first worked for the New York Evening Post (now the New York Post ) and was then hired as a book critic by Current History . He worked for the Saturday Review as an editor for nearly four decades. Later, Cousins established a department for therapeutic humor research ( gelotology ) at the University of Los Angeles .
Services
Science writer Cousins is an example of the positive effects of laughter . In his autobiography The Doctor in Us ( Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient ) he describes the laughter therapy he invented , with which he healed his illness , a chronic inflammation of the spine , through laughter and thereby the gaze of a wider public aimed at himself.
At the beginning of the seventies he developed spondylarthritis . This illness was associated with very severe pain and had a very poor prognosis . In his autobiographical report of the illness, the doctors give him a 1: 500 chance of survival. He was familiar with reports from scientific journals in which the disastrous influence of negative states of mind on the internal secretory system of humans was described. So he tried the opposite: he tried systematically to make himself laugh by showing funny films or reading funny books to him. Cousins soon found that his pain had largely subsided after laughing intensely for about ten minutes. He was also able to sleep for at least two hours without any problems. This subjective experience was soon confirmed by specific tests to determine the degree of inflammation in the area of the spine. Because there was a significant decrease in the sedimentation rate after each individual laughing cure.
Today's gelotologists (laughter researchers) have found an explanation for this: When you laugh, certain endogenous hormones, the catecholamines adrenaline and noradrenaline , are released into the bloodstream . A Therapeutic Humor can produce an effective anti-inflammation.
The incredible story sparked a real wave of research and led to the emergence of a new science, laughter research ( gelotology ), which deals with the origin and effect of laughter on body and mind.
Politically, Cousins was a tireless advocate of the liberal stance. So he was committed to nuclear disarmament and world peace.
Awards
- 1990: Albert Schweitzer Prize
- 1990: Niwano Peace Prize
Publications
- Literature by and about Norman Cousins in the catalog of the German National Library
-
Anatomy of an Illness As Perceived by the Patient. Norton & Company, New York 1979
- German edition: The doctor in ourselves. The story of an amazing healing - against all gloomy prognoses. Translated from the American by Klaus Schomburg a. Sylvia M. Schomburg-Scherff. Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 1984
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cousins, Norman |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American science journalist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 24, 1915 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Union City |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 30, 1990 |
| Place of death | los Angeles |